Coca-Cola and WWF in fight to save the Polar Bear

Polar Bears are huge part of the Coca-Cola company’s brand and have been the highlight of many of its ad campaigns. After taking aggressive public steps to “fight” global warming this past year and failing by the result of public backlash, the company continues the fight to save its icon by working with the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF). In fact, the two groups have been working together since 2007 on issues from water efficiency to greenhouse-gas reduction.

In a recent announcement, Coke will donate over $4 million to the  WWF Arctic Home project over the next three years to help keep the Arctic ice intact and protected from melting. Further, 300 million Coke products will feature the image of a mother polar bear and her two cubs, according to a release from the nonprofit Responding to Climate Change.

WWF is focused on preserving a 500,000 square mile expanse of land known as the “The Last Ice Area.” The hope is that the efforts will conserve the habitat for ice-dependent species, protect the cultural heritage of local people, and improve livelihoods, TriplePundit reports as cited by BrandChannel.

Is Today’s Prime Time Audience Worth the Dollars?

According to an AdWeek article which examines a recent study from Simulmedia, the big bucks that advertisers payout for every prime time block of 30-seconds may not be worth it for the actual impressions it makes on today’s audience.

The article sites “In the two-week period measured, more than half of TV ad dollars (54 percent, or about $91 million) were spent on the four-hour block between 8 p.m. and midnight, and yet only 34 percent of all measurable impressions were logged during that time.”

Now that’s not to say those are good results for today’s fragmented audience that watches TV while cooking, working on the laptop or iPhone… its still significantly higher than daytime ratings. However viewers can’t always be counted on with DVRs, Netflix and Hulu to interrupt traditional viewing habits.

“By the end of 2012, there will be an estimated 78 million TVs in the U.S. connected to the Web,” wrote the authors of the study. “With penetration expected to grow to 147 million sets over the next five years, advertisers need to accept that linear TV is no longer the sole platform viewers use when they lean back on the couch to watch.” (ADWeek article)

So what does it all  really mean to the advertiser considering where to put those valuable marketing dollars?

Work closely with your marketing department to develop the best strategy and value for your marketing goals and budget. Does a mix of daytime and prime time fit into your budget? On network or cable?

The truth is that your local TV Ad Sales reps are willing to work with you to maximize any client budget – whether its $5,000 or $500,000.

The final key is to Negotiate. Get the results you need from your budget.

Good contacts get results

Having a good contact list can make the difference between getting  a story published or having to reintroduce yourself to the newest business editor at Frontpage Daily News…

An article I recently read on ChiefMarketer, “Resolve to Have a Better Contact Database in 2013,” named 3 easy ways to keep your contact list of media  or business people up to date and ready for the next big idea.

First – Cut the Fat – i.e. cut out the incomplete and inaccurate records. We all know there’s at least a handful of contacts on our database right now that are outdated and should be removed or followed up on to get the right contact in there. One study showed that up to 25% of your database will be outdated within a year.

Second – Eat Healthy – i.e. only use new healthy data on your lists. Develop a plan to maintain high standards for the contacts that enter your list. This includes taking extra steps if necessary to get the right data added in from the start.

Finally – Exercise Regularly – i.e. keep high standards for your data with regular/quarterly checkup to ensure your database is in good quality for when you need it. You can also develop ways to enhance your data with personal notes or work with a third-party to get added demographics as needed.

What strategies do you use to keep a healthy and ready to use database?

M&Ms builds anticipation bubble for Superbowl Spot

Mars is breaking the newest trend of Superbowl advertisers and is Not going to release its M&Ms 30-second spot early for added social media buzz.

The recent AdAge article by EJ Schultz quotes the company as saying:

“We are continuing with what we call our surprise-and-delight approach,” said Mr. Benin, the chief consumer officer for Mars Chocolate North America. “There’s that first-time, premier reveal [in game] that we believe is compelling.”

I think its a great way to keep the tradition of the anticipation of seeing what the best creative minds in the industry have to offer… or at least believe were the best ideas for this particular seasonal event.

I loved last year’s reveal of Ms Brown and have been recently laughing every time the seduction of Mr Red from the party… all due to a little revenge from Ms B.

Can’t wait to see what BBDO, New York and will run in the first quarter.

What was your favorite M&Ms Superbowl TV spot?

2013 Superbowl Ad Spots Sell Out

According to The New York Times, CBS will be airring the 2013 Superbowl on February 3rd and already the top marketers have bought their spots hoping to make a huge impact on viewers.

Slightly up from last year, 30-second spots sold at $3.7 million, and a few were sold at $4 million per 30 seconds. Usually there are 60 to 70 half-minute ad slots during each game, plus promotional spots for the network carrying the game… that’s quite a bit of dough.

So is it worth the millions of dollars to reach such a large and diverse audience? It does if you’re Pepsi, Doritos, Ford or a number of other major consumer businesses.
FACT: The average viewership for the game last year set a record, at 111.3 million people.

Just a few weeks to go… Can’t wait to see the new creative minds at work.

Does “Made in the USA” matter today?

Yes actually it does, if  “Made in the USA” means better quality, quicker availability and product safety according to an article in The New York Times.

While the phrase used to induce patriotism and a commitment to supporting the US and its businesses/economy, today consumers are most concerned with getting the best product and safety for their family – i.e. China’s lead paint on children’s toys…

So how does a business use “Made in the USA” to its advantage in a marketing strategy? Well, for example, Whirlpool Corporation promoted in its ads “that 80 percent of its appliances “sold in the U.S. come from our U.S. factories.” Other companies are relying on heritage and a “Since 19XX” tie of its roots to the US.

Companies also need to be cautious of how much of their product is actually “made in the USA.” This technicality had redirected several marketing plans.

In another study by the Boston Consulting Group, results showed that 80 percent of consumers surveyed said they would be willing to pay more for “Made in the U.S.A.” products than for those carrying a “Made in China” label.

But does it add up in the checkout line? Do you check labels on your everyday consumed products or just the likely imported ones like electronics and apparel?

I think we all have good intentions these days of being more cautious of big box stores and products made or grown in the USA. However, I don’t think the average customer is willing to pay extra to support the label if they can get the same quality from another outside brand.

What does “Made in the USA” mean to you? Does it influence your purchases?

Doritos Superbowl Ad Voting Open Now

Doritos has opened voting to consumers to choose this year’s Superbowl ad.

According to MediaPost, the “Crash the Superbowl” contest is open on Dorito’s Facebook page.

The finalists are:

*”Fashionista Daddy” (entrant: Mark Freiburger): A little girl uses a bag of Doritos to get her dad and his guy friends to play dress-up with her.

*”Road Chip” (entrant: Tyler Dixon): A little girl in a car seat devises a way to stop her dog from stealing her Doritos during their trip.

*”Fetch” (entrant: Joe Taranto): A dog-sitter, initially delighted when he discovers that the dog can fetch anything, including a bag of Doritos, makes one fetching request too many.

*”Goat 4 Sale” (entrant: Ben Callner): A man lives to regret buying a ravenous, Doritos-eating goat.

*”Express Checkout” (entrant: Sasha Shemirani): At a supermarket checkout, a man who attempts to shift a bag of Doritos from the checkout order of an apparently sight-impaired man into his own order gets a painful comeuppance.

GO VOTE!  Dorito’s Facebook page.

Short Web Ads have Greater Impact

A recent study by AOL indicated that short-form video ads (that play during webisodes, cat videos, short interviews, etc.) are more effective than long-form ads (that play throughout TV shows, movies, etc. or videos longer than 10 minutes).

Marketers are taught that the traditional 30-second ad has the most influence but as media habits change so does the power of ad length and placement.

These are some of the major highlights from the AOL study:

• Ads in short-form videos are more effective than ads in long-form content. More specifically, short-form video produced a 25 percent higher brand recall and a 42 percent higher purchase intent for the featured product or service.
• Viewers are adopting traditional avoidance behaviors during ads within long-form videos. Respondents found the ads to be too frequent and interruptive; as a result, they chose to avoid them altogether (by walking away, going to other sites, multitasking with their phone). This is the same “annoyance” behavior that is demonstrated when viewing television without the use of a DVR.
• Consumers want more targeted and humorous ads in both formats. In fact, 67 percent of respondents would be willing to be answer a question to make their ads more personalized and enjoyable.
• Consumers understand the exchange of free content for advertising, but they want to make sure their time tradeoff of watching ads also benefits them. They found coupons, contests and links as the most positive forms of engagement.

Read more at http://venturebeat.com/2012/12/17/aol-short-form-video-ads-study/#qQqvLPSLAmfZjJUZ.99

Do you agree? Does online video have more influence than traditional TV ads?

2013 – an Amazon.com takeover?

In a December Ad Week article, some analysts are predicting that the Amazon.com Empire has been planning a media takeover to place itself ahead of its competition and the e-commerce marketplace…

Over the past year, Amazon.com has been aggressive in building a proprietary real-time bidding platform that plugs into exchanges and supply-side platforms, including Google’s AdX and PubMatic making its ability to push products and services to customers based on their web browsing history an advertiser’s dream… There is even talk of them taking it a step further to allow media buyers real-time bidding on platforms to maximize every dollar spent.

Amazon already offers advertising on multiple online platforms as well as its Kindle devices. Its Amazon Advertising Platform is also independent from third parties having recently added its own bidding technology last year. It is even seeking to expand its Amazon Web Services which already powers back-end technology for Netflix, Pinterest and Instagram…

All in all, Amazon is well positioned to become the content-and-advertising-distribution platform of choice, taking a greater cut of the pie and leaving its competitors wondering, why didn’t I think of that.

Happy New Year – Best ads of 2012?

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Here is something fun to start the new year! Ad Age listed their top 10 favorite ad campaigns of 2012.

I really love and agree with some of their choices (and have already talked about them on here)… others I impress me so much.
What do you think? What would be your top choices for the best ads of 2012?